Door - butter, 7Up, Cherry Coke, real milk, salad dressing, mayo, soya milk, cider, lemon juice, punchThe tomatoes and the celeriac need to go in the next couple of days and the cucumber will need to follow fairly quickly!!

The milk was bought to
make tea and coffee for relatives visiting last weekend and none of them
had any!! Me and milk don't go to well together so it may end up waste
but I'll see what I can do!! I can get away with a couple of cups of tea in a day...

Unfortunately it's tipping it down outside at the moment so today's meals will be made up from what I can find. So far it's jacket spud for lunch to use up a poor lonely potato, the cheese and I'll open some beans!! Dinner may end up being via just-eat.co.uk if I decide to be really naughty!! I did have waste this week though. M donated this small portion of fruit salad and I just never fancied it. On looking at it today there appear to be bits in there that weren't there when it was delivered!

Door - butter, soup, coke, salad dressing, soya milk, cider, lemon juice, punchLet me explain the 'unknown dinner'!! My Mum does dinners for the elderly once a month with a very good friend of hers. There is always enough food for the cooks to have dinner as well and if there are still some leftovers then a portion normally makes it's way to me as is the case here. The unknown comes from the fact that I have no idea what it is! It will be eaten tomorrow for dinner!!The beef stroganoff was tonight's dinner and made from this recipe in the slow cooker. It really is incredibly easy and sooooo yummy!! I got five portions from this batch, I've had two, two have gone in the freezer and Mum took one home the other day.The key lime pie and fruit salad were donated by Mum and will get eaten in the next couple of days. Some of the cheese and ham were todays lunch and they will be tomorrow as well. The ham needs eating so it might be lunch on Monday too!! I bought some rolls today so that will also deal with some tomatoes. When the ham runs out then it'll be tuna and cucumber for the rest of the week! The soup will probably be Monday's dinner. Dinners for the rest of the week will use up freezer supplies as I really need to defrost my freezer!!

Saturday, 3 November 2012

So, I signed up for a blogger Secret Santa over at According to Amber and now know who I've got to buy for!!I had to send over my address and my blog details so that my Santa can get an idea of what I might like and therefore what to get but it occurred to me that I'm not sure the blog actually says that much about me so I thought I'd do a little post to fix that!! Then I though about it some more and wondered if I want to give any 'extra' details about me as I'm not sure I want to 'steer' my Santa in any particular direction. Then I thought about it even more and realised if my receiver didn't give me any idea at all I'd be really stumped so I went back to deciding to do a short post!!So - Me???I'm a closet hippy. I put random mad colours in my hair. I'm shy with new people but completely nuts with those I know well. I have a tendency to collect bizarre things. I LOVE shopping but am trying to get rid of stuff rather than accumulate more! I like sleeping lots and lots. If those of you who know me fancy giving my Santa a had please feel free to leave a comment - but please make sure you leave it on the blog itself and not the tweet or facebook link as Santa will only have access to the blog itself!! I'd also be quite intrigued to see what you might have to say!

Door - egg, butter, cherry coke, diet coke, salad dressing, soya milk, cider, lemon juice, punchEverything is still fine but I am aware that the blackberries will need eating up a bit smartish. The next thing to go will be the egg but I will have scrambled egg and beans on toast for tea tonight as Mum and I ate out for lunch.Food waste confession - those raspberries that I saw no reason not to eat didn't get eaten and a few of them had a full on fur coat!!

Oh, and on the windowsill you can just see a cup of tomatoes. These are the last of the cherry tomatoes that i grew this year just reddening off!!

Door - 3 eegs, butter, 7up, salad dressing, soya milk, pear cider, lemon juice, punchThe raspberries are left over from making a raspberry victoria sponge for a charity cake sale at work, as are the eggs. No reason they shouldn't get eaten up in the next few days.Some of the soup will be eaten and the rest will be divied up and frozen for future lunches. The veggies are all fine and will get eaten up over the next few days.

Food waste confession - one unopened carton of soya yoghurt. I'm not a stickler for use by dates normally but this is two weeks over!!!

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Yes I know - the 17th wasn't a Friday - it was a Weds but the pictures cover Friday 12th and 19th as I went away on the 12th, came back on 16th, lived on takeaway, went away again on 19th and came back on 20th!!!

Top shelf - diddly squat!Middle shelf - spread and chocolatesBottom shelf - two small pieces of cheese and a smoothieDrawers - condiments

Door - water, yoghurt, diet coke, coke, salad dressing, soya milk, vanilla soya milk, lemon juice, punchThis week didn't go quite as planned as I had to work late a couple of nights, fortunately everything in the fridge is fine, except that leftover bit of stuffing. It still looked OK but it has been in there a fortnight and there was some condensation in the container which may have made it soggy so it was into the bin for it!!

I think this week will be a bit of a use it up week as I am going away for a few days on Friday...

Door - water, yoghurt, soup, salad dressing, soya milk, 7Up, Lucozade, punchThe lasagne will be tonights dinner with pancakes for pudding. I bought some more fruit so I can make fruit salad with the grapes. The potential issue could be with the stuffing but I'll try and use it up!!I do have waste confessions this week though - the part carton of cream and what was left of the pate hit the bin...

Door - 3 eggs, water, soya yoghurt, sald dressing, soya milk, Sunkist, Lucozade, punchSo there is potential for problems here!! Everything is fine except the following...Sausages - go out of date tomorrow and are therefore destined for the slow cooker and a sausage casserole.Soya cream - if it's anything like soya milk it lasts a lot longer than the dairy equivalent but I'm sure I can use it up on some fruit salad over the next couple of days!Pate - this was opened last weekend and enjoyed on the balcony with fresh bread and Mums company. It still smells OK but I'm not convinced and think it may find it's way to the bin!Chicken goujons - will go in the freezer. I write the basic cooking instructions on the container for when I want them!3 eggs - they went out of date yesterday according to the box. I intend to use one in a mug cake today, will use one for scrambled eggs and beans on toast for tea (cunningly using up the beans as well) and will think of something to do with the last one!!So potentially an egg and a small amount of pate could be in for it - not too bad!

Door - eggs, water, salad dressing, soya milk, mountain dew, 7up, lucozade, punchThe ricotta is still just about OK so it will be turned into some sort of cheesecake this weekend! The melon and plum has now had some grapes and raspberries added to it and is being eaten up over the weekend. The spinach and butternut squash will get eaten for tea! The eggs are still in date.

Door - 4 eggs, water, coke, salad dressing, soya milk, squash, lucozade, punchThe ricotta is left over from the Butternut and sweet potato lasagne I made last weekend. I knew I'd have some left which is why I bought the Philly so I can make some small baileys cheesecakes!!

Some of the melon and plums will be eaten for pud today and the rest will probably make it to work with me during the week.The spring onions will be used today and tomorrow for lunch along with some of the tomatoes and salad stuff I've just bought.The spinach and butternut squash will probably get cooked up and put with something out of the freezer.The egg are also left over from the lasagne but are well in date.I do have to admit to waste though. An almost full carton of juice, two egg whites and a slice of ham!! The juice just wasn't really very nice so I didn't drink it, the egg whites are a casualty of the lasagne and my lack of coming up with anything to do with them, the ham was leftover as I got bored of ham and cheese sarnies this week!!

Door - water, coke x2, salad dressing, juice, soya milk, lucozade, punchThe ham and cheese appeared on the day I came home courtesy of Mum and the tomatoes were picked from the plants on my balcony! All three will last a few days so will get eaten. Everything else is fine!

So although the fridge is looking good now there was waste during the week. Everything that is in the fridge at the moment is OK for now although the few salad bits are starting to look a little sorry for themselves. It's that really awkward bit when you have some salad stuff but don't want to buy the rest to make a full salad! Not sure there's a lot else you can do with lettuce!

I've cheated this week and done an online shop which will be delivered Sunday morning. As I don't drive it's worth the delivery charge every so often to buy the heavy stuff in larger quantities. I also made sure I decided what I was going to make this week and stuck (mostly) to what was needed to make those things!

Saturday, 16 June 2012

Every so often I do a cull on facebook. I will announce it and people have a set time frame to interact with me. No interaction and you get deleted. In the past I have left a few people on because I know they have busy lives or don't go on facebook much but this time I stuck to the rule and went from 73 friends to 40.

However I've been thinking about it since the last cull and think I'm doing it wrong. I've deleted people that I do consider 'real life' friends. I have other ways of keeping in touch with them but facebook is a convenient way to see what they are up to, how their children are growing up etc. On the flip side I've kept people on there that I really don't know. When the notification came up that they'd commented I actually groaned as it meant I had to keep them as I was sticking to my rule. (And yes, if you are reading this from the facebook link then I might just be talking about you!)

Drawer - condiments, a leek, two peppers, small bit of celery, chili's, small bit of cucumber

Door - water, three different types of soya milk, mayo, cider, punch

So, the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that the mascarpone and the quark are still hiding in the corner! My plans to use them up didn't work. I did do a recipe search last weekend but most of the recepies that came up were all cheesecake and similar. I'm going to see if they are still edible (the quark isn't opened yet and use by's tend to be conservative) and try a cheese sauce approach with some ham, sweetcorn and pasta!!

Everything else is OK for a couple of days. I'm going to attempt some proper meal planning this week to try and sort out my diet and random spending!

Thursday, 31 May 2012

My Mum always told me that it was easier to do things as I went. Put things away when you'd finished with them, not chuck them all in one pile until later. Deal with the post when you open it, don't chuck it in a pile to look at later. File those important bits of paper, don't put it in a pile for later. Put the clothes you've taken off away or in the washing, not in a pile on the floor. I guess by now you're getting the idea. My room spent a lot of time looking like a bomb site. I spent a lot of time putting of dealing with all those piles of stuff. Then I went to Uni and shared a room, we were both messy, clothes, books, papers everywhere. Then my next move was a shared house and I still didn't learn. Then a studio flat but no the lesson didn't stick. The next move was a one bed flat, nope still a mess. What amazes me though is I liked the places I lived when they were nice and tidy. When I finally got stick into the sorting, clearing, hoovering it wasn't actually that bad. Yet still the message didn't sink in. Still I wouldn't do anything until I had to pick my way across the floor and move stuff before I could put thinngs down!

Now I am in the position where I HAVE to tidy as I go. My one bed flat is on the market and the Estate Agents have a key so they can do viewings while I'm at work. That means I have to leave the place looking it's best every day before heading out the door. So I have my dinner and wash up straight away. I dry up and put it away rather than leaving it on the draining board til I want to use it again! I open the post and deal with it, pay the bill, chuck the junk, reply to the letter there and then. My clothes either get hung back up or go straight in the wash bin. It's finally sunk in. It really DOES make life easier to do it as you go!!

So, this past weekend I was down in Exeter working on the Exeter Olympic Torch Relay event. A few days off from the day job to go and work doing something that although different also has quite a few similarities. A busman's holiday if you will.

I was chatting with one of the others about days jobs and where I'd travelled from and I found myself admitting out loud that being back in Devon feels like coming home. I caught myself walking along the High Street on a mundane errand (going to Tesco for some lunch) with a smile on my face. Spotting where the occasional shop had changed but old favourites still clung onto their little patch and identity. The whole mix of people pootling around on a Saturday afternoon from small children, young singles, students, couples, oldies and eccentrics. And yes, I know I see the same in London every day but here it has a hard prickly edge. Somehow it doesn't blend quite right in the fast paced commuter centric big city, whereas in Exeter it's just right, it fits.I think maybe I'm a little closer to deciding where I want to be come Jan!

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Well not so much a giveaway but a bit of fundraising for a charity of your choice...

I clear out my wallet each night when I get home and the only things that get to stay on the money front are notes and £1 coins. I have a terramundi each for the £2 and 50p, a lovely Unicorn money box that was handpainted by my friend T for the 20p and all the 1p, 2p and 10p go in a large (and I mean large) whiskey bottle!!

Well, the whiskey bottle is full, so it's time to tip everything out, spend an age counting it up and then trek to the bank with it but I thougt I would give you a chance to raise some money for a charity of your choice.

Guess how much is in the bottle...

I will donate 10% of however much is in the bottle to a charity of choice of the person who manages the closest guess!

So you have until the end of the day Saturday 26th May (BST) to make your guesses in the comments here or on facebook and I will announce the 'winner' on Sunday 27th May. I will not count it until Sunday so I won't be able to influence anyone!! Also, my decision is final (so there).